This invention relates generally to turbine engines, and more particularly, to heat exchangers used with turbine engines.
At least some known turbine engines include an inlet, a fan assembly, low and high pressure compressors, a combustor, and at least one turbine. Air entering such engines through the inlet is compressed by the fan assembly. In such engines, a portion of the compressed air is channeled through a bypass duct defined generally between an outer engine casing and an inner engine casing. At least some known turbine engines position a heat exchanger within the bypass duct to enable a flow of bypass air to be used by a thermal management system, such as for a heat sink. Specifically, in known engines, a thermal management system provides cooling to various systems that may generate heat by transferring heat from a cooling fluid channeled through the heat exchanger to bypass airflow channeled past the heat exchanger.
At least some known heat exchangers use an inlet scoop to facilitate entraining a sufficient amount of bypass air into the heat exchanger for cooling the various heat-generating systems. However, such heat exchangers may cause undesirable pressure losses in the bypass airflow. In addition, generally such heat exchangers also generate a flow of hot air, or a temperature streak, downstream from the heat exchanger. The flow of hot air and the reduced bypass airflow pressure may adversely reduce the performance and/or efficiency of the turbine engine.